1. Field of the Invention
In one respect, the invention relates to the art of designing military land vehicles for amphibious operation and particularly relates to the use of enclosed compartments in the land vehicle hull to provide buoyancy for the vehicle. In another respect, the invention relates to the art of armoring underbodies of vehicles to counter explosions under the vehicle from land mines or like munitions. In still a further respect, the invention relates to the use of sacrificial components of a vehicle that are destroyed or blown off the vehicle by a land mine blast so as to absorb energy from the blast.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,984 to Mirabella et al discloses an enclosed buoyancy compartment on the bottom of the vehicle; the Mirabella vehicle may be regarded as amphibious in that it has wheels 106 and 109 that can engage a platform 118. It is also known to employ either a generally V shaped hull on a vehicle to enhance its ability to resist or survive mine blasts or similar explosions occurring under the vehicle. See, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2008/0173167A1 of Mills et al and U.S. Pat. No. 7,997,182 B1 to Cox. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0079978 A1 of Schreiner discusses at paragraph 0004 the possible effects of an under-vehicle explosion on the undercarriage and axle of a vehicle. Schreiner at paragraph 0009 describes side plates under a vehicle which crumple under the force of an explosion so as to absorb blast energy; these side plates also have openings to direct blast force toward the vehicle hull. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,520 to McHorse discloses an elongate sacrificial fairing disposed near a wheel well of a vehicle.